I am more than a little obsessed with kitchen equipment and gadgets. Just ask my husband! In fact, I have so many kitchen tools that I have run out of space in my kitchen and have to store many of my kitchen toys in the garage. One tool for the kitchen that I haven’t explored is the pressure cooker, so when the folks at Lagostina contacted me and asked me to do a review on their Domina Vitamin Pressure Cooker, and were willing to give me a second one to use as a contest giveaway, I was excited. So what exactly is a pressure cooker? A pressure cooker works with steam pressure to cook food. You use a sealed pot that builds up steam and pressure inside to quickly cook food. Unlike a slow cooker which cooks food long and slow, a pressure cooker should be called a fast cooker because it cooks food much more quickly than the traditional way. How do you know just how long to cook different types of food? Every pressure cooker comes with a chart, this Lagostina model included, telling you the recommended time to prepare anything from chicken to dried beans. This model has an operating valve that you turn to release the steam, or to set when cooking meat, fish, and frozen food, or for delicate foods and vegetables. Once the food and other ingredients have been placed into the pot, it is saved and brought up to the ideal heat. You can tell this by the hissing noise that the pot makes. Simply cook the food for the recommended time, then release the pressure by turning the valve, and open the lid.

When my Lagostina Domina Vitamin Pressure Cooker arrived, it was sleek and elegant, just like all the other Lagostina pieces I own. Knowing that this was a new tool for me, I read the operating manual and recipe book that comes with it from cover to cover before trying it out. The instructions are very straightforward and easy to follow, with step by step tutorials to get you started. I wanted to try out the pressure cooker by preparing a couple of familiar dishes, so I chose to make first risotto, then an Osso Buco Milanese. After doing some research on the internet, I found out that the risotto should take just eight minutes to cook once you seal the pot. I have to say, that I was very skeptical about this, but I set out to make my risotto by first sautéing leeks and the rice, then added my liquid, closed up the pot and set my timer. After eight minutes, I released the steam, opened the pot and was thrilled to find perfectly cooked risotto cooked “al dente”, bathed in a creamy sauce. I now think I many never make risotto in the traditional manner again! Here is my recipe for Risotto With Leeks, Prosseco, Parmesan Cheese cooked in the pressure cooker.

I next tried making Osso Buco in my Lagostina pressure cooker, and after browning the meat, sautéing the vegetables and adding the other ingredients, I sealed the pot and set my timer for thirty-five minutes. Again, I was very pleased with the results as my veal shanks were fork tender and the flavor was delicious. I did find that my sauce was a little too soupy, so I just removed the meat from the pot and thickened the sauce by cooking it over high heat for a few minutes. I think next time I’ll add five minutes to the cooking time to see if that helps. It usually takes me two or more hours to achieve fall off the bone veal shanks, so cooking it in just under forty minutes was truly impressive. (Pressure Cooker Osso Buco recipe coming soon!)

I have enjoyed using my new pressure cooker so much, that I think I will have to make room for it in my kitchen, as I can see just how useful it will be in preparing meals over the upcoming busy holidays when the house is full of family! If you would like to try win your own Lagostina 7 Quart pressure Cooker to try your hand out using this amazing kitchen tool, just enter the contest giveaway below! You can also buy it at Amazon.com

Product Details About The Domina Vitamin Pressure Cooker:

• 7.4 Qt. capacity
• Exclusive, patented one-handed drop lid opening system
• Superior safety: lid clicks to let you know when it is hermetically sealed
• Two pressure settings: 6psi is ideal for vegetables and preserves up to 35% more nutrients; 10psi is ideal for meat/fish and cooks up to 2x faster
• Exclusive LAGOPLAN® 3-layer aluminum and stainless bonded base for optimal and uniform heat distribution
• Set includes steam basket, recipe book and measuring cup
• MSRP: $299.99

Contest rules:

To enter this contest giveaway to win a 7 Quart Lagostina Domina Vitamin Pressure Cooker, you must be over 18 years of age and a resident of the continental USA.
To enter, simply post a comment below stating why you would like to make with the pressure cooker. One entry per person please!
The contest will run for one week, ending at midnight December 14th.
The winner will be chosen by Random.org, and will be notified December 15th. The winner has 48 hours to respond sending contact details. If the winner does not reply within 48 hours, a new winner will be chosen.

Would love to simplify my life with something that cuts cooking time. We often seem to be coming up with great dinner ideas at the last minute and then not having the time to prepare. A pressure cooker would really solve that issue!

I recently retired and have begun learning how to cook. Risotto is a bit overwhelming to me based on traditional methods. The pressure cooker sounds like a good solution. Likely for other items as well!

I was always afraid of my mother’s pressure cooker so I never tried using one.I have tried most types and styles of cooking.Recently I have a new interest in trying pressure cooking myself with the newer cookers. Very timely post for me!

My grandmother always used to cook with a pressure cooker and its one tool I’ve never tried yet. I’d love to try short ribs in the pressure cooker! Osso buco would be lovely as well. I’m sure there are a lot of things I’d like to try given the chance.

I would like to make Pinwheel Stew with my Mothers recipe. I remember being scared to death when she used her pressure cooker but I’ll put on my big girl panties and give it a whirl. I would also try hard boiled eggs and carnitas!

I would like to try my grandmother’s tomato sauce recipe in it. She called for cooking it for several hours and I would like to shorten then time. I would also like to try more Italian recipes using the pressure cooker.
Thank you and Merry Christmas!

My cooking class of students living with disability always look forward to your news letters! We learn so much not only about how to make amazingly delicious meals, but also how to make our meals more healthy with your tips.

This machine would be wonderful for us to use with our new organic garden ingredients and your amazing recipes! Since many in our class have mobility issues and cannot work at the stove, this device would be a way in which more persons in our class can contribute to the cooking process.

Thanks for all of your wonderful letters and Happy Holidays from Ability Now Bay Area!

I have seen many women work with a pressure cookers, starting with my Mother, who, at first was afraid it. But I have never had the pleasure I, also, am a kitchen gadget person and would love the opportunity to try working with this pressure cooker. I look forward to creating new dishes with this method of cooking.

We live in Denver and the best way to make creamy beans is with a pressure cooker…my mouth is now watering in anticipation of a big batch of cannellini beans with garlic and rosemary to warm me up after our first snowfall.

my grandmother used to cook with a pressure cooker, everything was so tender and juicy, and always wanted one. but now I want one even more because I was recently diagnosed with heart disease and I am getting into the mediterranean diet and I believe this would be a great help to me in the kitchen.

I loved my pressure cooker, and need another one. The one I had said, “no more I’m to old”.
I make so many things in the pressure cooker and it’s faster than a crock pot or putting it in the oven.
I too have a thing for kitchen tools and gadgets and now I have a space for a new pressure cooker.

I make Arancini every year for our Christmas Eve 7-fish dinner. I would love to use the pressure cooker to make my arborio rice. And, using a pressure cooker will remind me very much of my Mom and Grandma – they used theirs all the time. I’ve never had the nerve to try using one.

There are so many dishes I want to make but the one that pops up in my mind now that it is getting colder outside is homemade chicken soup and to make the stock with a stewing hen in the pressure cooker would be awesome. Being 100% Italian I remember my Mom cooking stock all day and how great the house smelled. Being able to do that in a faster but just as efficient way would be delightful. Bono Appetito and Grazie.

I have never used a pressure cooker before but would love to see how good my slow cooked pulled pork or beef bourguignon (which also takes a long time to cook) would taste. These are recipes that I rarely have the time to make, but my family loves!

I grew up with a pressure cooker and have several electric pressure cookers. I also wanted a stove top pressure cooker but never got around to it, or didn’t have the extra money to get it. I would love to try Julia Childs Lamb Stew in the stove top pressure cooker. Thanks for the chance.

First off, I would love to try preparing classic veal shank osso buco in that spiffy new Lagostina pressure cooker. I’m certain that it would produce the most tender, mouth-watering dish. Then, it would be on to a traditional sugo Bolognese, cooked to perfection in probably half the time that it takes me now.

This Lagostina Domina Vitamin Pressure Cooker is so impressive! My husband is Italian from Brooklyn, NY so I would begin by making Osso Buco and my next meal would be Braciole in my own sauce. Being able to cook delicious meals in much less time would be wonderful!!

I have as many kitchen pots and pans as my wife has pieces of makeup. Being retired I have the time to still use the old with the new appliances. I would love to add this to my collection and give it a work out.

When I was growing up my mom and I used to can spaghetti/marinara sauce with vegetables from the garden. I would love to be able to do this again with her. She is 82 years old and I am not sure how many more years we will have together. This state of the art pressure cooker would allow us to accomplish this and at the same time create lasting memories!

What a fantastic pressure cooker! I’d love to make a large recipe of Italian tomato sauce with the meats and meatballs and freeze some portions. Also I’d like to try Ribollita and other Italian soups. Happy Holidays!

I’ve heard so much about pressure cookers and would love to have one! My Mom had an old one given to her as a gift in 1953 for her wedding. I think this Lagostina one will be just a little bit better. 🙂

The Lagostina Domina Vitamin Pressure Cooker is amazing I would love to own one. Cooking is my passion and I hold the traditional recipes that have been passed down from generation to generation in my family. My mom and grandmothers always had me in the kitchen as a child. Now 47 I love to keep the traditions alive and cook for my family and friends always keeping tradition, family and friends close to my heart always. Its so much fun cooking then sharing with everyone it brightens my day. Wishing everyone a Happy Holiday….

I have an older Pressure Cooker that is at the end of its life, it was a great help in the kitchen, I have a big binders full of recipes for it. I will put your recipes in it. Will be extremely happy to have a new one, specially this one.

Anxious to begin pressure cooker cooking I ordered and quickly returned a pressure cooker made in China. Arrivd with broken parts and never worked. Would LOVE a pressure cooker made in Italy so I can hope to reproduce some of my Sicilian grandmother’s pressure cooker recipes…and I make Osso Buco often and can’t wait for that recipe! Thanks!

I would so love a nice pressure cooker. Soups (pea and bean especially), stews, cacciatore, are all in the mix for getting made in this thing! I’d love to experiment in using this for making ragu (especially duck)!

After several decades away from the Italian cooking my family did, I am rediscovering the flavors and am back in the kitchen experimenting with recipes. Lagostina’s pressure cooker would be a welcome tool in my kitchen.

The Pressure Cooker is a lost art. My Mother used to use a pressure cooker in her weekly meal preparations. Of course she would use it for her sauces and risotto, but I remember her using it to pre-cook our pork spare ribs. We would have a delicious rib dinner in no time at all. I am anxious to give that a try. It is time to bring the art of Pressure Cooking back to the modern kitchen.

I have been looking at the new pressure cookers for my daughter’s in law for Christmas and this Lagostina looks wonderful! One has 4 children, ages 2 – 11 and works, and attends all the kids activities. The other one has two active teenage girls and she works full time. After reading about the Lagostina, I know it’s the perfect gift for both of them, for saving time and making nutritious meals! I want to buy one for myself because I grew up watching my mother and grandmother using the old fashioned reassure cookers and I want the modern version!

Although I don’t use a pressure cooker often and still have one from 45 years ago, this is a beauty that I would love to win. My mother used her quite a bit when I was growing up and everything was always delicious. Pressure cooking is the original fast food preparation!

Brilliant of Lagostina to contact you for this promotion, and wonderful that they’ve made a unit available for this contest. I’ve never used a pressure cooker but watched my G’ mother and Mom use theirs. Would be delighted to explore the opportunities a pressure cooker would prov9ide!

My wife passed away Christmas 2011 after 7 years of Ovarian Cancer. She was the love of my life and did most of the cooking. I traveled to Italy for 2-3 months the past three Summers .. Milan, Panzano, Montepulciano, Assisi, Chivita, Rome, Pompeii, Herculaneum. Italy is “Gods Country” a beautiful landscape with rolling hills, olives and grapes every where. Wonderful food and very friendly people, especially when you stay in one town for an extended time.

I am now living alone now and cooking every night by myself. Enjoying my Italian Rancilio expresso maker and Vario coffee grinder. Expresso every day takes my memories back to Italy. If I had a choice I would move there tomorrow. My mouth is watering reading your delicious Italian recipes.

I look forward to enjoy your Italian recipes using your pressure cooker. This would make my life perfect! I await to your winning call. Chaio

I’d love to try mid-size batches of soup on weeknights. I love soup. Husband loves stew so I’d try stew too. We love risotto so that would also be on the list of recipes to try. This Lagostina Pressure Cooker would get lots of good use in our home!

When I was growing up, my Mother used her pressure cooker often. I always wanted one, but have just never gotten around to getting myself one. I would love this one! My family LOVES Short Ribs & Risotto & I would love making it in this beautiful pressure cooker.

The ideas are limitless. Lentil soup, chicken vegetable stew, pho ga (!), pot pie. My favorite risottos are brown butter sage and mushroom. I buy morels and porcini in season in Portland, then dehydrate them for risotto all winter long. Just fabulous.

I was always afraid of my mother’s pressure cooker, she would make us leave the kitchen when she was opening it! I would love to make her famous pot roast in this cooker! Relive the flavor without the fear!

I have just recently started making beef short ribs and have become obsessed with them! So yummy, so many ways to make them. I would love to experiment with recipes that allow my imagination to take hold and create delicious dishes and I think that this beautiful pressure cooker will assist in making that desire come true!

I would like to make traditional beef goulash that takes about 3-4 hours to cook in traditional way and in the summer heats up whole house. I am sure that flavor out of pressure cooker would be same and all the time gained… priceless. Thank you

I love using a pressure cooker, but the one I have is older than me! It’s a hand-me-down from my mom. It didn’t come with instructions, so my use of it is very limited. Id love to replace it with this new one.

I have never used a pressure cooker, but have always wanted one. Still a wish list item for my kitchen adventures! I’d love to try cooking a ragù Bolognese on a weeknight using this pressure cooker. I can think of a dozen other recipes one wouldn’t normally cook on a weeknight … bring it on!

I would like to try a few recipes that are family favorites example, beef stroganoff, my Italian wedding soup to name a few. I’ve never cooked meals with a pressure cooker and would like to experiment.

Zia Bianca from Rome, astounded me, in 1965 , when she prepared Lobster Arrabiata , in under 20 minutes, in a pressure cooker !
Simple, sautee some garlic in Olive oil,w/ aromatics; when ready, add , live lobster , Marzano tomatoes, pepperoncini to taste and close the lid ! I have never had better and I was hooked on pressure cooking !